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Friday, February 23, 2018

Who is Jaspal Atwal, the new thorn in Indo-Canadian ties?

Jaspal Atwal, an Indian-origin businessman with ties to the Khalistan movement, has become the new thorn in the relationship between India and Canada. Photographs of Mr. Atwal with Canadian Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rekindled the debate on Mr. Trudeau's stand on the pro-Khalistan movement.

Currently, Jaspal Atwal is associated with Media Wave Communications that runs a Surrey-based online radio station. But he was formerly associated with the banned Sikh separatists outfit International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), notorious for the 1985 Air India bombing. The ISYF seeks to establish a separate country for the Sikhs of India called Khalistan. India declared the ISYF as a terrorist outfit and banned it under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2001. The outfit is also banned in Canada, United Kingdom and USA, which have sizeable Sikh populations.

Jaspal Atwal was one of four men convicted for ambushing and shooting Punjab Minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu in 1986. Sidhu was attacked near Gold River on Vancouver Island when he was on a private trip to Canada to attend his nephew's wedding. Though Sidhu survived, he was assassinated five years later in Moga, Punjab.The Trial Court Convicted Jaspal Atwal, Jasbir Singh Atwal, Armajit Singh Dhindsa and Sukhdial Singh Gill and sentenced them to 20 years' imprisonment. The trial court termed the murder attempt as "act of terrorism." The verdict was overturned in the appeal and the four men didn't serve their prison terms

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